Page 116 of Keeper
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Ainsley
After the game ended, an arena worker escorted us into the underbelly of the arena, where all sorts of team training staff and media personnel busily buzzed around. We were taken to a room with a giant conference table—the “family room”—where we waited for our guys.
The moodshould’vebeen one of celebration, since the boys had played great in another 1–0 game and, most importantly, no one got hurt. Instead, everyone was worried for me.
Tanner called me from the locker room. He was so chipper and happy after playing a wonderful game, I hated that I had to be the one to ruin his victory. He could sense something was up, but I couldn’t tell him over the phone.
“See you in a few, I guess,” he said as we hung up.
I hung up and drew an anxious breath.
“Well, he’s on his way,” I said aloud, giving Emma her phone back.
“Keep your head up,” Emma said. “And don’t lose hope.”
“Yeah. Wait until you hear Tanner’s side of the story,” Austen said. “Because this friend of yours isclearlyinsane, so you really can’t trust anything she says.”
The girls had been great and did their best to reassure me all night long that things would be okay and everything would work out in the end … but still, part of me was filled with dread. Part of me wanted to take off my denim jacket with Tanner’s name and number and hand it back to the girls.
In fact, I’dtriedto do just that back at Molly’s, when she first showed me what she’d seen on her phone. But she immediately stopped me and sternly said, “Don’t you daretake that jacket off, Ainsley. Not until you’ve talked it through with Tanner. I know it’s tough right now, but we’ll help you get through this however we can.”
At last, the door opened and Tanner stepped in. It broke my heart to see him—so handsome and strapping in his tailored suit, his hair still wet from his shower and neatly styled—because part of me thought this could very well be the last time I felt like we were ‘together.’ Even if that feeling was starting to feel pretty darn flimsy all on its own.
“Evening, ladies,” he said as he stepped into the room.
“Hi, Tanner,” everyone said, trying to force an enthusiasm that simply wasn’t there.
“You girls know we won the game, right?” he joked aloud as he neared me.
I rose to my feet. He wrapped his strong arms around me.
“Hey, I like your jacket,” he said, squeezing me tight. “My name looks good on you.”
On the verge of tears, I clung tightly to him, not wanting to let go. “You played fantastic, Tanner,” I said, trying to be happy for his sake.
“Thanks,” he said. “You ready to go?”
“Sure,” I said, feeling so small.
I said my goodbyes to the group. For all I knew, this was a permanent goodbye. Still, they whispered their messages of encouragement, reminding me to just be honest with him. After I’d wrapped up, Tanner gave the girls a wave.
“Have a good night, ladies,” he said.
Holding my hand, he led us out the door and through the arena corridors.
“You’re so quiet,” he said as we walked.
I couldn’t tell him what I needed to tell him here. There were so many people milling about—media types, executive types, security. I tried my best to hide my face, certain that someone would spot us together and ambush us with questions.
“Sorry,” I said. “We’ll talk in a few.”
“Is it bad?” he asked.
God.
I couldn’t even answer.
